Mistakes fit for a King
by MissMissive
Summary: When family tries to do what is best for each other, things don't always go as planned. Taranza leaves with Queen Sectiona to let his brother pursue the throne, but Magolor doesn't want royalty- all he wants is his brother back. These are small clips of memory from both Taranza and Magolor that tell a story the games leave out. One-shot!


**A/N: Hello there, lovelies! This is MissMissive with my first published fic, a one-shot that contains a few of my theories between KRtD and K:TD. The basic principle is this: did anybody else playing _Triple Deluxe_ immediately think Taranza looked an awful lot like Magolor? This story follows the possibility that they were related-brothers- and part of the royal family of Halcandra. So how did things end up as they were in the games? The answer, of course, is that mistakes were made- mistakes fit for a king. **

**This story is gijinka, because it's easier to write Marx with arms and the Halcandrans with legs. :P Criticism is welcome, but flames will be used to make delicious s'mores for polite reviewers. Any advice is welcomed! **

**Of course, I don't own the Kirby franchise. **

Taranza pulled his cloak tighter around himself, the grit on the wind stinging his exposed flesh. In just a few hours, he'd be away from this dystopia, with fresh air in his lungs instead of sulfur and sand. Queen Sectiona had promised him power at her side. It would be fine. They weren't going far; he could always come back. _But what if Magolor needs me? _He stopped the thought with a shake of his head. Magolor was High Prince. He didn't need Taranza. The best thing he could do for his older brother is leave the throne to him and disappear. Magolor had everything he could want, right here. He kept repeating that to himself, as if ingraining it in his mind would somehow make him believe it. He reached Sectiona's ship, pausing only for a brief moment to struggle with the image of his brother looking for him before crossing the threshold. As Halcandra faded from view, he didn't look back at his brother's kingdom even once.

* * *

"Where is he?" Magolor demanded, on the verge of panic. He ran through the palace, his white cloak flapping behind him, throwing open every door and startling the servants. He had combed the palace at least three times, sent servants down into town and even the wastelands, but nobody knew where his brother was. Finally, he slumped against the wall, wiping tears from his golden eyes. If Taranza was hurt somewhere…

A hand gently tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up. A servant held out a letter to him, carefully looking away from his weeping Prince. Magolor mumbled an unnecessary thank you, and the mute servant scurried away. He carefully unfolded the letter, marveling at its texture in his hand—paper was not common on Halcandra anymore—and looked at it in surprise. He knew his brother's handwriting anywhere. Taranza was telling him that he was okay, that he left of his own will and they would see each other again soon. Magolor let the paper fall from his hand in shock. Numbly, his mind slowly began to grasp what his little brother was saying, and then before he was fully aware of himself, he was running. He fled the palace without a word, despite the stares the servants gave him, and the shouts of the townspeople. There was only one place he could go for help, and that in itself was a stretch. It was only a legend, his tutors had said, but Magolor had to hope. His little brother couldn't be lost to him forever.

* * *

"Bow before the Mirror." Sectiona commanded. Taranza shuffled to kneel before the reflective frame, folding his six hands together and bending so his forehead nearly touched the floor. If Magolor found him now, he wouldn't ever recognize him. He hadn't known that Sectiona wanted him to channel Dark Matter. She had kept her end of the deal, though, and Taranza figured that it could be a lot worse. A dark laughter emanated from the Mirror, earning a pleased smile from Sectiona, and he blacked out once again.

* * *

The jester grinned at Magolor in the darkness, cocking his head in a predatory way Magolor had learned not to fear. Marx wasn't that bad; he had been very helpful thus far. "S-so… What we were talking about yesterday…" Magolor said quietly. He had quickly learned that his title of High Prince only applied on Halcandra; being demanding with the natives he'd met hadn't gotten him anywhere. Before he met Marx, in fact, he had been nearly killed at least five times, and chased out of towns more times than he could count. He still found no sign of his missing brother.

"Go on." Marx prompted causally, picking his teeth with a sharp silver dagger. Magolor tried not to think of what would happen if his hand slipped. "Well, there were two Legends besides the Lor. The Galactic Nova and the Master Crown." Magolor said. At the mention of Nova, Marx tensed, going completely still. His menacing mismatched eyes snapped to Magolor's face, and his mouth began to twist into a scowl. "I-I'm sorry, have I said something wrong?" Magolor stammered. He did not want Marx as an enemy; the jester, as he'd found out, was not entirely mentally stable. "Nova is gone." Marx said firmly, his voice holding a blazing fury that Magolor didn't understand. He flinched away from his friend, only slightly. "What do you-?"

"Gone, do you understand me? It's been destroyed; it can't help you and it won't! Look for the Crown." Marx's voice had risen considerably; he was shouting in Magolor's face now, but the once-Prince didn't dare to point it out. "Okay, I hear you." He held up his hands in a placating gesture, "I'll find the Master Crown."

* * *

"All of Popstar—no, all of the Universe will be under my control!" Those words. Had they really come from Magolor's own mouth? _It was cursed_, they kept trying to tell him, _it wasn't your fault. _But Magolor knew. Those words were his own, his own thoughts, his…his own actions that almost killed his friends. The guardian the Ancients created to protect the Lor had been right: he was a monster. And not just because of his actions with the Master Crown; in his absence, what little was left of Halcandra had crumbled. Every last Halcandran was dead—the only survivors were himself and… he didn't even know if Taranza was alive anymore. Ironically, he told Marx first. "I'm leaving." He had announced one evening. Marx made a strangled noise, something like a dying animal, and goggled at him for a full minute before he was able to form words. The jester's reaction was not what he was expecting. "No, you can't!" Marx cried, rushing forward to grab him around the middle. "Whoa, Marx-!"

"You can't! I'll be all alone and the villagers will throw rocks at me and laugh at me and I can't stop them anymore and I'll have to go back to the woods and try to find food—a dead animal if I'm lucky—and nobody will ever even come close enough to me for me to introduce myself! They all hate me!" Marx wailed, words tumbling out of his mouth so fast that Magolor had a hard time keeping up. Marx's grip on him was so tight now he could barely breathe, but the jester wouldn't relent. Suddenly, he seemed very much like Taranza, lost and afraid. Magolor couldn't lose anyone else, either. "O-okay, I won't. I'm staying right here." He choked quickly. Marx looked up at him, blinking in surprise. "You will?" He said hesitantly. Magolor nodded, and barely had time to react before he was hugged to the ground. "Thank you, Magsie!" Marx squealed, burrowing into Magolor's chest. "Yeah, you're welcome." Magolor said awkwardly, patting his head. "Er, don't call me Magsie, Marx." He added. Marx grinned evilly. "Magsie." He repeated with finality, giggling. Magolor rolled his eyes, but he couldn't really be irritated with the jester, as crazy as he was. It felt wonderful to be needed again.

* * *

It felt odd, having a civil conversation with the people he'd tried to kill. Kirby had insisted on a celebratory campfire after Sectiona's defeat, and Taranza sat staring into the flames until well after dark, conversing with the little pink puffball, King Dedede, and a small Waddle Dee with a blue bandana that hadn't said a word all evening, but communicated with wild hand gestures. It reminded him painfully of the conversations he and Magolor used to have when his brother had time away from his duties. "Ya know what?" Kirby said suddenly, "Now that I think about it, this is the first time in a while that you haven't tried to hit me with your hammer all evening, Dedede." The fat king looked up from his mug of tea, blinking in surprise. Taranza thought for a moment he would point out that Kirby had not called him 'Majesty', but his beak split into a grin instead. "Haha, I guess so- for once in your life, you're right! When _was_ the last time we got together like this?" Dedede asked. Bandana Dee jumped up, gesturing wildly. The whole evening, Taranza hadn't been able to interpret what the foot soldier was trying to say, but Kirby or Dedede always explained it in the end. Dedede looked thoughtful, nodding. "Yeah, it _was_ with that Magolor fella, wasn't it?" He said. Taranza choked on the tea he was idly sipping, coughing and sputtering. Dedede lazily reached over to thump him on the back—a mite too hard—while Bandana and Kirby looked at him with concern. "You okay, Tar?" Kirby asked.

"You said Magolor?" Taranza asked as soon as he caught his breath. The trio nodded in the affirmative. "He crashed his ship right outside my house." Kirby said, "Come to think of it, he looks kinda like you…" For a moment, Taranza could hardly think. A smile crossed his face, and he grabbed both of Kirby's hands in his, startling the young boy. "Can you take me to him? Please!" He said excitedly. "Y-yeah, sure. I mean, it's kinda late…" Kirby started. "He won't care!" Taranza reassured him quickly, jumping up and down in giddy joy. _He finally found his brother! _The three startled Dreamlanders led him off into the night, exchanging uneasy glances with each other but still dutifully trekking to where they knew the Lor was docked.

The Lor Starcutter was just like the legends said. The ship sat proud and ornate, combatting the darkness with its own pearly glow. "Er, are you sure he isn't sleeping or something…?" Kirby asked carefully, but Taranza shook his head, flying up to the bridge of the ship. He let his hand trail across the railing. "Beautiful…" He breathed. The Ancients were wonderful craftsmen. It took him no time at all to find the door, and he pounded on it with three of his six hands. There was a crashing sound from inside, and a swear in a voice he didn't recognize. "What?!" A voice shouted, and he faltered slightly, eyes widening. Behind him, Dedede also muttered a curse. "Marx." The king grunted disdainfully. Before Tarazna had time to ask who Marx was, the door flew open. A jester, his hat askew on his head, stared at him with a snarl on his face. Taranza took a step back, already opening his mouth to apologize, when a quiet voice made him snap it shut. "Marx, who is it?"

His brother came to the door, dressed exactly like Taranza remembered him. He must have gotten new clothes made somewhere. Magolor peered into the darkness, blinking with a frown at Taranza. _Of course—Sectiona's magic twisted me. He can't know who I am. _Taranza realized. But then, Magolor's eyes widened. "Taranza?!" He managed, gripping the doorframe for support. Taranza nodded quickly, his own grin returning, and Magolor threw himself at his brother with a laugh. "How—where-?" Magolor started, not able to order his thoughts properly. Taranza couldn't answer him anyways; he was crying into Magolor's shoulder, too hard to form a sentence. The others watched in awe as both Halcandrans laughed and cried all at once, exchanging an odd tumble of words before they could think or act intelligibly. "I thought I'd never find you! You-you idiot! Don't scare me like that again!" Magolor said, burying his face in Taranza's hair. "_I_ scared you?! You should hear what happened in Floralia!" Taranza said.

Marx watched the two aliens with a guarded hostility. This could take a while, but if it was important to Magolor… He glanced over at the Dreamlanders with a grimace. "Welp, you know I hate you guys… You wanna come in for some tea?"


End file.
